Pest

There are a number of pests which will attack clothing and furnishings in the home.
They fall into two basic categories: moths and beetles.

Due to the industrial mothproofing of carpets, the threat of damage by moths has
reduced markedly, but they can still be found in older houses where carpets have
not been treated.

However, the incidence of beetle varieties has increased due to the installation
of central heating and wall-to-wall carpeting in many modern houses.There are many
species of textile pest, but we shall concentrate on the most common types:

Clothes moths, and varied carpet beetles.

WHAT DAMAGE DO THEY DO?

Textile pests can cause a considerable amount of damage to many fabrics. The adult
insect does not feed, but the larvae will chew their way through the fibres of carpets
and clothing causing clean irregular holes. In feeding they show a preference for
textiles of an animal origin

including carpet, woollens, skins and furs. However, they will damage other fabrics
by simply biting through and discarding the fibres without consuming them.

In all cases it is not the adult, but the larval form that causes the damage. It
is therefore appropriate to describe the appearance of both the adult and the larva.

WHERE TO LOOK FOR TEXTILE PESTS

In a heavily infested home they may be found anywhere where there are carpets or
woollens etc. The larvae are commonly found in dark undisturbed places such as beneath
heavy furniture, inside cupboards, in drawers and in airing cupboards.

The adults are attracted to light and tend to be found on window sills and around
lamp shades. Infestations of the varied carpet beetleand the fur beetle often originate
from old birds' bests in a loft space and then spread throughthe home by following
hot water pipes etc.